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The moment the background halt shaking after an earthquake , some the great unwashed may wonder whether their pets — or risky animals for that matter — knew the disaster was coming .
In other words , can animals predict earthquakes ?
Can elephants and other animals predict earthquakes?
According to a new analysis of several other published studies ( called a meta - analysis ) , it ’s knockout to say . That ’s because " scientific grounds is lacking , " said Heiko Woith , a seismologist at the German Research Centre for Geosciences ( GMZ ) . So , give way that there ’s no evidence yet showing that animals can predict quakes , people should be sceptical about these claims , he say . [ Can Humans Cause Earthquakes ? ]
" Very potential , not every unnatural animal behaviour is related to an upcoming earthquake , " Woith assure Live Science . rather , it ’s potential that these animals are responding to foreshocks , that is , balmy tremors that precede violent shake off , rather than predicting the temblor itself , he said .
Woith take down that the public often contacts the GMZ after strong earthquakes , and that multitude commonly ask " whether we can predict quake or not , because there are so many reports on the internet that an creature could do it . "
Can elephants and other animals predict earthquakes?
To get to the bottom of this question , Woith and his workfellow value more than 700 published reports of unusual conduct among 130 species , including insects , shuttlecock , Pisces and mammals ( mostlycats , dogsand oxen ) from 160 earthquakes , he said .
The records included all kinds of behaviors , include a tiger that reportedly got depressed before an earthquake , Woith say .
Despite the vast number of alleged incidences , good data was sparse , Woith say . " A major surprisal for us was that the large bulk of the published claims were built on short data-based data [ mean most people did not decently observe the animate being before , during and after the earthquake ] , which did not stomach as statistical scientific proof , " Woith said .
The research worker found that 90 pct of all account cases happened within 62 miles ( 100 km ) of the epicenter andwithin 60 twenty-four hour period of an quake . Then , they canvass when and where foreshock had pass in the area . The resemblance was noteworthy , they bump .
" The blank space - prison term pattern of animal precursors and foreshocks is strikingly similar , " Woith said . " From this , we reason that at least some of the unnatural animal behavior might simply be related to foreshocks . "
To better contemplate whether animals can predict earthquakes , Woith and his colleague paint a picture that researchers ask a number of yes - or - no question in any upcoming experiments , including " Is the experimental frame-up and monitor procedure distinctly distinguish and reproducible ? " and " Is it leaven that the animal behavior is really unusual ? "
The review was published online April 17 in thejournal Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America .
Meanwhile , human are working on technologies that can detect earthquakes seconds before they hit . For instance , a genus Beta smartphone lotion called Quake Alert aid alert people in Los Angeles that an earthquake was coming about half a moment before it hit on April 5 , 2018,Live Science previously reported . The app works by rely on a connection of seismic sensors that find P - waves — the first vigour waves that radiate from an quake — and then notifying the great unwashed before the more powerful S - waving , or shear wave , arrive .
Original clause onLive Science .
